Daily news

China launches new Earth observation satellite

Nov. 3

China on Sunday launched a
new Earth observation satellite, Gaofen-7, which will
play an important role in land surveying and mapping,
urban and rural construction and statistical
investigation, according to the China National Space
Administration (CNSA).

The Gaofen-7, launched on a Long
March-4B rocket at 11:22 a.m. (Beijing Time) from the
Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern China's
Shanxi Province, is China's first civil-use optical
transmission three-dimensional surveying and mapping
satellite that reaches the sub-meter level, CNSA said.

The satellite and carrier rocket
were developed by the China Academy of Space Technology
(CAST) and the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight
Technology under the China Aerospace Science and
Technology Corporation.

The users of the Gaofen-7 satellite
will be mainly from the Ministry of Natural Resources,
the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and
the National Bureau of Statistics.

Via the same carrier rocket, three
other commercial and scientific experiment satellites
including one developed for Sudan were also sent into
space.

The development of the Gaofen-7 has
achieved a breakthrough in sub-meter level 3D mapping
camera technology, meeting the highest mapping accuracy
requirement among the Gaofen series Earth observation
satellites, CNSA said.

It can obtain high-resolution
optical 3D observation data and high-precision laser
altimetry data and can realize 1:10,000 scale satellite
3D mapping for civil use in China, according to CNSA.

The satellite can meet the needs of
users in basic mapping, global geographic information,
monitoring and evaluation in urban and rural
construction, agricultural survey and statistics, etc.

Cao Haiyi, chief designer of
Gaofen-7 from CAST, said the satellite also has
excellent positioning accuracy. For instance, it is able
to accurately locate the roads in the countryside.

The new satellite will work
together with other Gaofen satellites to form an Earth
observation system with high resolution and high
positioning accuracy, which will help promote
international sci-tech industrial cooperation through
data sharing and support the Belt and Road initiative,
said Wang Xiang, chief commander of the Gaofen-7
satellite project.